Brillobox — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

I go to Brillobox quite often. It’s close to my apartment. The jukebox is filled with good music. The draft and bottle beer selection is pretty great. And the food always hits the spot. Plus I get to watch guys in pants tighter than an 80′s glam rocker try and walk. It’s a win for everyone.

Most often my Brillobox experience doesn’t include an entree. Mainly because its appetizers are so good. And if you go during happy hour most of my favorites are only $3. Such a deal.

Last night I had a craving for its house salad. That’s weird I know. It’s just a house salad you’re thinking. Um, wrong. This is the best house salad in Pittsburgh (This whole post is going to be filled with bold statements, just wait).

This salad has mixed greens, hearts of palm, thinly sliced broccoli, shaved gouda, tomatos, edamame, and walnuts. All that goodness is tossed in a white balsamic vinaigrette dressing that lightly coats each delicious morsel. And this salad is big enough to split with another person. If you know of another house salad with that many unusual (for Pittsburgh) ingredients for $8, let me know because I’ll buy you a beer.

In addition to the salad I also got hummus, french fries, and a chorizo soft taco. I was hangry and in “eat or die” mode.

The hummus at Brillobox is better than I’ve had at some Mediterranean restaurants. It creamy, flavorful, and drizzled with olive oil. It’s also accompanied with a variety of olives and pita bread. It’s a generous portion and they don’t skimp on the pita so load it up and jam your face.

The pommes frites at Brillobox are mind blowingly good. I like to say the best fries in Pittsburgh. I’ll wait as you franticly tell me otherwise in the comment section. Ok, you’re back? These fries are served in a tall cone and accompanied by three dipping sauces: curry ketchup, spicy red pepper mayo, and garlic dijon aioli. The seasoning on the fries paired with the different condiments really set these fries apart from others for me. And I don’t even like condiments people!

Last but not least I had the tempeh chorizo soft taco. At the time it was such a bummer. It weirdly tasted like soap and I just didn’t like the flavor at all. Then I realized it wasn’t actually chorizo. And I still didn’t like it. Sorry Brillobox and vegetarians. Real chorizo knocks the fake stuff out of the water. The toppings were great though. Avocado, radish, pencil-thin potato crisps, and a lettuce/cabbage mixture.

I’ve had a lot of the other items off the dinner menu but I keep coming back to the appetizers time after time. Because big portions, big flavors, and fully bellies...

Brillobox's Sunday vegetarian dinner has been on my list for awhile and I was finally able to make it a couple of weekends ago. They had just unveiled their spring cocktails menu that night as well as their spring decorations and I just couldn't get enough of how pretty their spring decor is! The huge bough of blossoms over the bar area is absolutely gorgeous and makes for an interesting contrast with the rest of the room. I ordered the guava margarita - ok, a tad on the sweeter side for me. I'dv preferred salt on the rim and kind of assumed it'd come that way but it didn't, so if you're like me and like salt-rimmed margaritas, remember to ask! They also didn't have a couple items on their drinks list that day which I found wierd because their social media post invited people to come check out their new spring drinks menu. For the food, I ordered the Seitan wings which were hard, chewy and I think overdone). Totally skip Seitan wings here. I also got their veggie dinner dish, which that day, was curry flavored rice with vegetable pakodas (which is batter fried fritters). The pakodas were excellent but the rice was quite flavorless and bland. I wish we could've just gotten another portion of just the pakodas!! I'm also not sure that the crispy pakodas and rice which is quite dry go together as a combination. The rice definitely needed a sauce or something that could offset its dryness. I get the feeling that their Sunday dinner can be hit or miss. But they only reveal the dish a couple of hours before they open and you're going to have to take that chance if you want to try it. Brillobox often also hosts a lot of music events which seem like a lot of fun and could perhaps make up for the food being so-so. I'm going to give Brillobox one more shot before I...

Update: We wanted to spend our 5 year first date anniversary at our favorite spot. It was packed, the crowd was awesome as always, but we got the opposite of the usual chill vibe from the bartender. Started off fine with the first drinks, but when we asked for a second round, we were told "that's not what you ordered the first time" and we were given the wrong drinks. When we asked for a third round with the right drinks, we were again told "that's not what you ordered " and she refused to make the drink we asked for. We were not asking for a free re-do on the drink, we were paying for the third round. We stayed anyway (our mistake) and ordered food. One of our 2 sandwiches didn't come. We asked about it and were told we never ordered it; that we would have to start over by going back to the bar and ordering it. I tried and gave up after standing there for 20 minutes while the rest of our food got cold. We were on a tab, so I'm unclear as to why the missing sandwich couldn't have been added to our original order. The sandwich was ordered with a side of onion rings. We got the onion rings alone for $10. We asked and were told "this is a Saturday night, look around you, this isn't about you, goodnight". As a former restaurant owner, I'm ashamed for this place. You can be overwhelmed, you can be short-staffed, you can have a bad night, but you never ever take it out on paying customers who are just trying to enjoy their evening and support your establishment. So much for "the warm and friendly place, chill vibe, great bartenders and authentically welcoming to all" review I originally posted. We really thought this was a special space. We...